turbo diesel Willys!

[dirtman13]

That's awesome. Congrats. It's a great filling that first drive.

[daniel_buck]

I felt like a king

[daniel_buck]

I got the overdrive shifter and bracket made up, it works nicely. I somehow accidentally shattered the original shift knob, so I made a new one out of a trailer hitch ball. If anyone is looking for a nice weighty shift knob, use a trailer hitch ball, NICE weight, if feels real good. I may do the same for my transmission shift knob, if I can find another hitch ball. I only had one laying around. I'll run the overdrive shifter for a week or so, and once I'm satisfied with it, I'll clean it up, paint it, and then it'll be done.

And, the TD Willys has officially resumed daily driver status. I've been driving it in the evenings every day to put some miles on it, and it's been doing well. So as of today, it's my daily driver again. :smokin: I didn't plan it to be memorial day weekend, but it ended up that way I've never gotten so many thumbs up while driving around before.

[vwtipeii]

awsome job man!

[Ol Man]

Thumbs up.

[daniel_buck]

I've got about 200 miles on the new transmission and steering, everything is going great!

I need to make new upper front shock mounts, due to the steering and radiator positions and I either need to lower the top shock mounts, or get longer shocks. I didn't realize it, but I only have 1" of shock down travel in the front. Not sure what I was thinking when I measured and ordered the shocks, but the fronts aren't long enough I think. At ride height, the shock is almost fully extended. haha


I got the exhaust finished, and I've just been driving around, running errands, visiting friends, and what not all weekend, mooching off BBQ where ever I can

Yesterday I visited a friend about 25 miles away, and on the return trip (midnight) I took the freeway home. Held it at 2200RPM for about 30 minutes straight, that should be 55mph, 4st gear with overdrive engaged. That's a nice cruising speed for mysetup, and it'll still go up hills at that speed. As long as I can cruise 55mph, I'm happy. And the steering is rock solid even on the sometimes bumpy LA freeways at 55mph.

[daniel_buck]

I was driving on the freeway yesterday, (55mph, 2200 RPM in 4th and overdrive engaged) trying to put more miles on the jeep, and noticed that the overdrive was starting to smoke, wasn't sure if I was seeing things or not, so I went on for another mile or so, and then yep, it was definitely smoking, coming out of one of the bolt holes where I have my shifter bracket mounted. SO..... I'm not sure if the overdrive is going to be toast if I keep driving it like this, or maybe that bolt hole just wasn't sealed well enough?

Nothing has been leaking (!!!) I filled up the transmission and transfer case with oil (they don't share oil anymore) but I've not checked the level since the initial filling. I guess I should check it? I DO have the oil guide/rail on the overdrive installed correctly.

Thoughts?

[aw12345]

Smoke means hot, not good, take it ap[art and look for damage, parts that turned blue etc

[daniel_buck]

pulled the OD and drained the TC, it's definitely just the overdrive that is toast, not the trans or transfer case. WHEW! The main inside gear on the overdrive is stripped, and the planetary gears are pretty worn down as well.

I'll clean the inside of the TC real good, then fill it back up and use the stock gear. Won't be able to drive as fast in the mean time, but at least I can keep driving it and continue working out the rest of the kinks before finding axles for it with a better gear ratio. I think I'm just gonna forego the overdrive. It's giving me to many troubles.

Will probably go with Dana 30 up front, and Dana 44 in the rear, narrow track.

[Ol Man]

This may sound odd, but you might consider a Toyota front axle. They are strong stock and can be upgraded pretty easily. They have a drop in like a Ford 9 inch, so gear changes are easier. Don't know width. I am sure a look on Pirate will yield some info.

[daniel_buck]

This may sound odd, but you might consider a Toyota front axle. They are strong stock and can be upgraded pretty easily. They have a drop in like a Ford 9 inch, so gear changes are easier. Don't know width. I am sure a look on Pirate will yield some info.

I'm always open for suggestions, thanks! I'll look into the toyota axle. I don't mind having yota stuff on my jeep, the engine is Japanese anyway

[daniel_buck]

Just got back from my 2nd drive today with the overdrive removed. Wow, the noise coming from the driveline is MUCH quieter, that overdrive was loud. It'll be pretty quiet once I get the floor made.

Drives good, it's just slow. haha

[daniel_buck]

doing some more post flight inspections, and bolt checking, [COLOR="Red"]I notice that I'm getting a bit of oil coming from the speedometer cable connection on the Dana 18[/COLOR] transfer case. Is there anything that can be done about this?

Right now the transmission and transfer case are leak-free, except for the speedometer connection. It's not a huge leak, but if I can do something about it, I'd like to.

The oil pan is leaking a bit on the Kubota motor, next time I change the oil, I'm going to pull the pan, and use RTV instead of the gasket.

[daniel_buck]

Got a few things done. Finally put the winch line on the winch. Re-did the eye splice to put a new thimble on the end. Test fit one of the wheels on the new front axle, it just barely fits! It clears the caliper, and the knuckle with not much room to spare. And also braced the rear of the alternator. I kept on snapping the lower alternator bolts (grade 8! ) So I figured bracing the rear of the alternator would help it from wobbling to much. It seems to be rock solid now. Time will tell.

Also replaced one of the bolts holding the exhaust on near the transmission mount, it too sheared off, so I drilled out the 1/4" hole to 5/16", tapped it and put a grade 8 5/16" bolt in there. This motor does vibrate more than the original flathead, I guess I need to step up some of the bolt sizes to compensate for that. I've broken quite a few bolts so far on my drives around town. I've got over 1,000 miles on it, and I'm continuing to put it through the paces of driving every day, finding little problems, and fixing them.

[dirtman13]

doing some more post flight inspections, and bolt checking, [COLOR="Red"]I notice that I'm getting a bit of oil coming from the speedometer cable connection on the Dana 18[/COLOR] transfer case. Is there anything that can be done about this?

Right now the transmission and transfer case are leak-free, except for the speedometer connection. It's not a huge leak, but if I can do something about it, I'd like to.

The oil pan is leaking a bit on the Kubota motor, next time I change the oil, I'm going to pull the pan, and use RTV instead of the gasket.

IIRC that can actually happen if you overfilled the TC. I had that happen to my 300 once.